TEN YEARS AGO
Friday April 4, 2014
Two brothers, Jamie and Johnny Girvan, have been pounding out serious miles in all weathers in preparation for their first marathons.
They are among seven Campbeltown Running Club members heading south to join more than 35,000 people taking part in the London Marathon on Sunday April 13.
Postman Jamie Girvan, 33, admitted that preparing for the big day had been tough “mentally and physically”.
“Doing long Sunday runs of up to 22 miles in wet and windy conditions has not been easy,” he told the Courier.
“I’ve also had moments when I thought I couldn’t run another step.
“That said, I’ve enjoyed the whole experience. I’ve also lost a stone and a half in weight and feel better for it.”
The prospect of raising more than £5,000 for Prostate Cancer UK, Royal Mail’s chosen charity, has kept Jamie up to the task since he began proper training at the beginning of the year.
“I’ve received a tremendous amount of support, and I’m grateful to everyone who has backed me,” he said. “I am on target to raise £2,500 and Royal Mail has pledged to match that.”
Johnny, 31, a foreman mechanic with West Coast Motors, has certainly seen his engine improve since beginning training in earnest after being awarded one of Campbeltown Running Club’s two nominated places for London.
He said: “I’ve been running for about five years now and, like Jamie, feel much better for it.
“It has also kept my weight in check. I’ve run the half marathon before, in under two hours, but this will be my first attempt at the full distance.
“Neither Jamie or myself have set a target time for London – we just want to ensure it is a positive experience.”
The other Campbeltown Running Club members taking part in London this year are Jennifer Reid, Elaine McGeachy, Jocelyn Richards, Charlie Dott and Southend fisherman Kenny Campbell, who ran two hours 40 minutes last year to gain an elite entry this time around.
TWENTY FIVE YEARS AGO
Friday April 2, 1999
Campbeltown Highland dance champion Jennifer McMillan has done it again.
In her first competition this year, Jennifer, aged nine, became the under 10 UK Highland dance champion.
A student of the James McCorkindale School of Highland Dancing and a pupil of Dalintober Primary School, Jennifer beat stiff competition from 20 other dancers in her age group.
After first becoming a champion last year, Jennifer was only then allowed to compete in championship competitions. And she is proving to be a real champion, notching one win after another on her belt.
Last August, she became Commonwealth Highland dancing champion after winning the competition in Stirling.
Within weeks, Jennifer, of Benvair, Balegeggan Road, went on to become the Scottish champion.
And just before Christmas last year, Jennifer even found herself starring in the ‘Non-Stop Ceilidh Dancing’ video by renowned entertainer Jim MacLeod and his Scottish Dance Band.
Jennifer’s proud mum and dad, Mhairi and Archie, accompanied her to the United Kingdom Championships in Musselburgh on March 21 when about 200 competitors battled it out in the various classes and age groups.
Her fantastic win meant she brought home two trophies to add to her rapidly expanding collection.
A buyer or buyers are still being sought for redundant housing at RAF Machrihanish.
Marketing agents for the Defence Estate Organisation of the Ministry of Defence, Ryden, said there had been interest in the 127 properties and, in the next month or so, will be meeting with a number of interested parties to discuss, among other things, how many and which houses they are interested in.
Dominic Quigley of Ryden, said: “We have had it on the market for some time. A number of parties are in the frame who we are planning to meet with and take their interest a stage further.”
Mr Quigley added that some of the parties had been down to the site, which has a mixture of semi-detached, detached and terraced housing of differing sizes.
Initial interest has been whittled down to those few parties, although Mr Quigley would not say how many or who was involved.
At the same time, the RAF, who pulled out of the base finally in March 1996, have been looking after the military side of the airfield on a care and maintenance basis.
The RAF is considering decommissioning the military jet fuel facilities at the airfield for safety reasons but they would be easily recommissioned if necessary.
It is also understood the field is being swept of ammunition, an event which may herald its return to full civilian use.
Hugh Raven, prospective Scottish Parliamentary candidate for Labour in Argyll and Bute, said, during a visit to the Kintyre area, that the sooner a decision was made on the future of the airfield the better.
“I have arranged to see Defence Secretary George Robertson, who used to live in Campbeltown and knows the area well, to make sure he knows the importance of an early decision,” he said.
FIFTY YEARS AGO
Thursday April 4, 1974
Kintyre’s coastline was ringed with nearly 200 youngsters on Sunday doing battle with the new menace, broken bottles and rubbish.
The ‘clean up bid’ which was organised by Kintyre Round Table in conjunction with the nationwide Shelter and Keep Britain Tidy organisations, was a great success.
The youngsters made a tremendous effort and at the end of the day they had collected 1,000 bags of rubbish.
Beaches at Westport, Peninver, Machrihanish and around Campbeltown, from Macringan’s Point to Davaar House were cleared up.
“The response was really remarkable,” said Round Table press officer Jack Wallace. “I think the kids did a marvellous job.
“In fact, we had to send for more bags as our supply of 600 ran out in what seemed no time at all.”
Campbeltown Town Council supplied the initial bags, and workers on the refuse freighter helped cart the rubbish to the Aros Tip.
Nationwide on Sunday about 12,000 volunteers all over Scotland took part in the clean-up bid and it looks as though they will raise about £5,000 from the sale of the rubbish.
More foxes have been seen this winter in Kintyre than for some years.
It is imperative that they and their cubs should be caught before too many lambs are destroyed. Now that the in-by lambing is well under way and the hill lambing soon to commence, farmers should be vigilant for signs of foxes. Cubs will soon be appearing.
They require feeding as they grow and young lambs are easy prey.
Regular sighting of a fox can indicate that the cubs are not far away. Another sign is that dens are scraped out ready for use if necessary. Foxes tend to use the same dens over the years and their location is often local knowledge.
ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO
Saturday April 5, 1924
As the renovation and redecoration of the Highland Parish Church is to be proceeded with next week, Sunday 6th April, will be the last Sunday on which the congregation will worship in the church until the work of repairing has been completed.
In the interval, the congregation will worship in Castlehill Church, the use of which has been kindly granted by the Castlehill side of the Session.
On Sunday first, Rev. Mr MacRae, Southend, will preach (forenoon and afternoon) in the Highland Parish Church in the absence of Mr Mackenzie, who is attending the great ‘Copec’ conference at Birmingham (5th-12th April) as Campbeltown delegate.
With two jury cases heard in Campbeltown Sheriff Court hard upon one another recently, and another in prospect, the qualifications of jurors are being a good deal discussed.
It would appear that a great many people are uncertain whether or not they are eligible to serve on jury.
Some seem apprehensive about it, and others merely curious. To entitle a person to be enrolled as a juror, he or she must be over 21 and under 60 years of age, and be either the owner of property to the annual value of at least £5 or possess personal estate to the value of £20 or over, or pay taxes on a house of not less than £30 rent.
People possessing these qualifications may expect to be called upon to serve as jurors sooner or later.
Owing to the prolonged period of frost, and also the wet weather earlier in the season, the cabbage plant crops in East Lothian are likely to be short in numbers to that of some former years, and the probability is that the demand will be very much in excess of the supply.
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